Carlsbad faces teaching shortage, vacancies grow through state

District working to come up with new ways to attract and retain teachers

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Teachers in Loving and Carlsbad have expressed concern about the teacher evaluations, said Greg Maxie of NEA-New Mexico. The teachers union has argued against the evaluations and factors used to rate teachers.The evaluations are administered by the New Mexico Public Education Department.(Photo: DeJanay Booth/Current-Argus)Buy Photo

Therese Rodriguez, director of human resources at Carlsbad Municipal Schools said the district pays its teachers some of the highest salaries in the state.

But it’s not enough to put a roof over their heads.

“It’s been attractive,” she said of CMS. “But with the cost of housing, and the lack of housing, we’ve had people that have rescinded when we made offers. That makes me wonder about the people that didn’t even apply.”

The district also hired teachers under “alternative licensure.” This allows a teacher to accept a position with only a bachelor’s degree, at least a 2.75 grade point average, a letter of recommendation from the district and subsequent assessments.

This is an alternative to the standard licensing process, which requires teachers go through a traditional teaching program.

The district even used adjunct professors fromNew Mexico State University Carlsbad, and started working with the University of the Southwest on an internship program that allows those in a teaching program at the college, to gain credit hours by teaching at CMS.

“We had to get creative,” Rodriguez said. “You don’t have a highly-qualified teacher in the classroom giving instruction.”

Eric Spencer, CMS’ director of secondary education and college and career readiness, said the district is working to ensure teachers that might lack an education background but are proficient in the content itself, are able to bridge the gap.

“Having a master’s degree doesn’t necessarily make you a better teacher,” he said. “It just depends. You have some people that have taught before, and they’re naturals.

“They have the content knowledge, but they might not have the pedagogy for instruction. That’s where we implement some other training strategies. That collaborative process is critical to build the bridge.”

New teachers are offered a mentorship program, along with new opportunities for professional development, in hopes they will stay in Carlsbad for the long-term.

Rodriguez said she is not optimistic about the deficit being resolved, as the oil and gas boom continues in southeast New Mexico and less and less graduates are pursuing education.

“It’s a problem,” she said. “I don’t see it getting any better anytime soon. We don’t have students graduating and going into a teaching program. The university is just not graduating (education) students.”

Veterans were also tapped as potential instructors in a program called Troops to Teachers, read the report, and a statewide program called Educators Rising is working in high schools to expose students to the education career path and see them pursue teachers positions in college.

Educators Rising grew from eight to 39 chapters across New Mexico since 2015.

“I have mixed feelings,” Spencer said about the future of education in New Mexico. “Education is only one part of the workforce. Education is only part of the economy. I wonder what ripple effect could happen when people aren’t pursuing these critical degree paths.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.